The newly appointed interim president of New Mexico Highlands University will host a campuswide forum Wednesday to address a “current leadership transition.”
The board of regents voted in a special meeting Friday to place Highlands President Neil Woolf on paid administrative leave, a move that appears to be the first in a wave of high-level departures at the state university.
While sources have said at least three other top administrators were dismissed in recent days, Highlands has provided scarce details on the changes.
The New Mexico Higher Education Department said it was aware of a transition at Highlands and was monitoring the situation but also provided no details.
An email sent to faculty, staff and students Tuesday announced a forum was scheduled at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Student Union Building ballroom, where interim President Kimberly Blea plans to address the campus community. The forum also will be available virtually.
Neither Blea, who was vice president of student affairs before the interim appointment, nor any of Highlands’ regents responded Tuesday to repeated requests for more information on the matter.
Regents have yet to offer any explanation for placing the president on leave — including to Woolf. He wrote Monday in a post on his personal Facebook page the regents did not provide him a reason for the leadership shift or “any prior indication … of concern.”
Along with reports that some administrators were fired this week, a Highlands official confirmed Tuesday men’s basketball coach Zach Settembre was fired, a move that came shortly after he was given a three-year contract extension. No reason was given for the coach’s termination.
A day before Woolf’s leave began, The New Mexican asked him to confirm he had levied multiple suspensions of Settembre during the 2025-26 season.
Woolf texted he had Settembre sit out one game due to an excessive amount of technical fouls, then another “out of an abundance of caution” while reviewing video of an exchange between the coach and a player.
“There was a report of possible contact, and after a review of the video, it was found to not be the case,” Woolf wrote.
Highlands general counsel Doajo David Hicks wrote in an email Tuesday, “The University is unable to comment on the reasons underlying personnel decisions, including the circumstances surrounding Dr. Neil Woolf’s placement on paid administrative leave.”
Hicks stopped short of confirming any recent personnel changes or dismissals of high-level administrators, citing individual privacy rights.
While he didn’t confirm whether certain administrators were still employed at Highlands, Hicks indicated departments previously overseen by Vice President for Advancement and University Relations Paul Grindstaff and Vice President for Government Affairs David Lepre will now report to Hicks on an interim basis.
“As a matter of law and out of sincere respect for the privacy rights of the individuals involved, the University is not able to comment on personnel matters,” Hicks wrote. “This is not a decision we take lightly — it is a legal obligation, and it applies equally and fairly to all employees.”
Kathy Jenkins, president of the New Mexico Highlands University Faculty and Staff Association, said Monday she welcomed the news of a possible leadership turnover.
Faculty and staff have been “very, very upset” with Woolf’s administration, Jenkins said, with the union alleging violations of the collective bargaining agreement. Woolf received a “D” grade in the union’s latest evaluation of administrators.
The tumult comes less than two years into Woolf’s tenure in New Mexico Highlands University’s top office. After a nationwide search, he was named president in December 2023 and started the job July 1, 2024.
Woolf led an ambitious effort to overhaul the university’s athletics complex — at a cost of $85.5 million, the largest-ever athletics expenditure in New Mexico history. But the effort failed to secure state approval and funding.
The New Mexico Higher Education Department has been alerted about the situation at Highlands and “will continue to closely monitor” it, agency spokesperson Auriella Ortiz wrote in an email to The New Mexican on Tuesday.
Ortiz added representatives from the Higher Education Department are planning to meet with Highlands’ interim leaders in the coming days “to ensure there is stability” during the transition.
“The New Mexico Higher Education Department remains focused on maintaining confidence in New Mexico’s higher education system, and we emphasize our continued commitment to supporting students and ensuring public colleges and universities remain stable, accountable and centered on student success,” Ortiz wrote.